Ballet Dancer's Rosin Box (Bubinga, Bloodwood, Brass Rod, Magnets)

I made this box for my girlfriend, who teaches ballet. Dancers put a box on the floor and apply rosin to their shoes in order to get the right traction. This could be a simple wooden box or even a plastic tupperware container. I decided to spruce it up a little bit, and make a compartment at one end of the box. The compartment is made with magnets epoxied into the bubinga and bloodwood, so that it can stay closed and hold the rosin. The compartment was actually a last-minute idea, and so it is held in place by using 3/16” brass rod through the sides and into the board.

-- "Nothing retains its own form; but Nature, the great renewer, ever makes up forms from other forms. Be sure there’s nothing perishes in the whole universe; it does but vary and renew its form."

They don’t use rosin boxes much at all anymore, because the stages have a vinyl layering over the wood. That layering provides the traction they need. Rosin (and rosin boxes) were used in romantic ballet times, before vinyl became a standard. My girlfriend is teaching a romantic ballet course, using the traditional music and on a traditional wood floor… Thus, a good opportunity for applied woodworking. :-)

-- "Nothing retains its own form; but Nature, the great renewer, ever makes up forms from other forms. Be sure there’s nothing perishes in the whole universe; it does but vary and renew its form."